Box Score

TOWSON, Md.—In three short seasons, University of Scranton head men’s lacrosse coach Kevin Dugan has the Royals within one game of a conference championship.

And that’s saying something for a program that went 8-37 in three years prior to his arrival in the summer of 2006.  What makes today’s 10-9 semifinal victory over top-seeded Goucher College even more impressive is that Scranton is coming off a 10-0 loss in the regular-season finale against Drew University last Saturday, the first time since 2003 that the Royals failed to score a goal.

“I’ve never been more proud of a team that I am today,” says Dugan.  “To come back and play the way we did after getting beat 10-0 last Saturday is truly remarkable.  We didn’t hang our heads and feel sorry for ourselves.  Our players showed a lot of heart and determination today, and I can’t say enough about their effort.”

The game was a tightly-fought contest reminiscent of Scranton’s 10-9 double overtime victory in the regular-season game played at Fitzpatrick Field on April 4.  It was tied six times before senior midfielder Thomas Kornobis (Merrick, N.Y./W.C. Mepham) put the Royals ahead for good with an unassisted goal with 11:11 left in the fourth period and freshman Robby Napp (Spring Lake, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal with 7:54 left to cap off a team-high four-goal performance.

Napp’s game-winner was set up on an alert play by sophomore attacker Thomas Alati (Glen Ridge, N.J./Montclair Kimberly), who started a fast-break opportunity with a picture-perfect pass to Napp.  Napp then traded passes with senior attacker Nick Youngstrom (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) before converting for his team-leading 33rd goal of the season.

Dugan was especially pleased with Alati and sophomore attacker Robert Pantages (Roseland, N.J./West Essex), both of whom were called on to fill in for sophomore attacker Kyle Frank (Glen Arm, Md./Boys’ Latin), a 22-goal scorer who suffered an injury early in the first half.

“Thomas (Alati) and Robert (Pantages) stepped in and really gave us a big lift,” he said.  “We needed someone to help out up front, and they came through big time for us.”

The Gophers did manage to cut the deficit to one on an unassisted goal by senior midfielder Brian Hoge (Crofton, Md./Arundel), but Scranton managed to hold Goucher scoreless the rest of the way to move into Saturday’s championship game against the winner of #3 Drew-#2 USMMA, which will be contested later this evening in Kings Point, New York.

Youngstrom finished with three goals and two assists, Kornobis contributed two goals and an assist, and Pantages scored a goal off the second of two assists by freshman attacker Brett Greer (Morton, Pa./Ridley) with 14:16 left in the fourth period to tie the game at 8-8. Moments earlier, Goucher took its last lead of the game with three seconds remaining in the third period on the second of two goals by senior midfielder Alex Boucher (North Wales, Pa./Germantown Academy).

Royal sophomore goalie Jeremy Dowiak (Hackettstown, N.J./West Morris) played a key role in today’s victory, stopping 16 shots.  It was the fourth time this season he has made more than 15 saves in a game.

Senior attacker Sam Fitzpatrick (Littleton, Colo./Arapahoe) led Goucher, now 10-5, with four goals, including three straight during four-minute span that crossed the first and second periods as the Gophers built up their largest lead, 5-2.  Napp and Youngstrom then tallied back-to-back goals within a 22-second span as Scranton cut the margin to 5-4 by intermission.  The teams sandwiched three goals around each other in the third period as Goucher entered the final 15 minutes of play with an 8-7 lead.

The Royals’ only title in men’s lacrosse came in 1995 as Hudson League champions in their previous affiliation with the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation.

Score by Periods        1    2    3    4    Total
Scranton (9-7)        2    2    3    3    10
Goucher (10-5)        3    2    3    1    9

Goals:    Scranton-10 (Napp-4, Youngstrom-3, Kornobis-2, Pantages-1)
    Goucher-4 (Fitzpatrick-4, Boucher-2, Hoge-1, Lynch-1, Averett-1)
Assists:    Scranton-7 (Greer-2, Youngstrom-2, Dowd-1, Kornobis-1, Napp-1)
    Goucher-4 (Boncaro-2, Fitzpatrick-1, Hoge-1)
Saves:    Scranton-16 (Dowiak-16, 9 goals allowed, 60:00)
    Goucher-13 (Main-13, 10 goals allowed, 59:23; Stricklin-0, 0 goals allowed, 0:37)

--ROYALS--